Wanting Feedback on Growth Hormones for Son with Small Stature

J.- I have a friend who now has a healty 20 year old and she went thru all hormone issues with him- her name is Pat and I sent your email to her- hopefully she will be able to get back to yu- she is the expert and knows all- great resource- She went thru it at Childrens Hosp in Phila.

Good luck and I am sure it will all work out fine

D. Sansone
www.partyangelsus.com

Hi J., my son Adren 6yrs has been on growth hormone for about a year now and it was the best decision we've made. He has done wonderfully and grown about a foot. He feels more confident and is excited each time he outgrows his clothes. He's still smaller than others his age but I'm confident it won't be long until he catches up. His doctor at Cook Children's Ft/W is wonderful his name is Dr. Thornton. So far Adren hasn't had any negative effects from the shots only possitive, he was originally projected to be approx 5'-5'2" now 5'6"-5'8" but until he hits puberty we won't know for sure he may be as tall as his dad who is 5'10". Let me know if you have any specific question or concerns, I can only speak from our experiences, anything I can do to help ease your concerns just drop me a note.

E.

My name is P. and I am the mother of a 21 year old son who went through the treatment.
He began the treatment at 9 years old and was 41 lbs. and 38 inches tall (the size of an average 6 year old).During stim testing he was also diagnosed thyroid and cortisol defiencent (not uncommon) due to the under development of his pituitary gland.I cannot say enough for the astoninishing results we had. My son now stands at a wonderful 5'11.5" and is happy, healthy and currently a college junior with a 3.8 avg.

The emotional baggage that comes with unnecessary short stature can be devastating.

Aside from that, remember that growth hormone is also responsible for the bodys ability to maintain a healthy weight,cell regeneration,and the maintenance of muscule including the heart which makes growth hormone a very important component to all aspects of your sons development.This is not a treatment solely for long bone growth.It is not a treatment that will alter your lifestyle,the injections are simple,much more so than say insulin.
I hope this helps .Good luck to your entire family.

What's wrong with being 5'2" or 5'3"? A shot every day for years sounds like a lot, but I've never been in your shoes.

Hi J.,

In the spirit of getting "as much information as possible", here are some additional thoughts for you. There can be very real reasons for slowed growth in children that are almost always missed by conventional physicians.

One of these which is very easy to test for is food intolerances. Research has clearly established gluten intolerance as a major candidate in slowed growth/short stature in children. Gluten is the protein in wheat, barley, and rye. The reasons are two-fold: (1) gluten autoimmune reactions lead to a deteriorated small intestine lining, where micronutrient absorption takes place. This leads to malnutrition no matter how much good food you eat. (2) the compromised gut lining leads to leakage of toxins from the gut into the blood stream, where they clog up the liver, and stress the endocrine system, including the adrenals and the pituitary. Since doctors don't study nutrition in med school, they know little of this relationship and usually won't make the connection. In addition, even if they do, the standard testing (blood test and invasive endoscopy procedure) are not effective in diagnosis. A better test is a stool test from Enterolab, a lab in Plano TX started by Dr. Ken Fine, former director of GI research at Baylor Dallas, who suspected that conventional testing was missing the problem in many people. See www.enterolab.com. Order test kit online, send in specimen, they email you the results. EASY!! You will see "short stature" listed on the symptom list under FAQ of "Who should be tested."
https://www.enterolab.com/StaticPages/Frame_Faq.htm#Who

Dr. Fine's research leads him to believe 1 in 3 Americans suffers from this. Not suprising, given the overconsumption of gluten in processed foods, of which kids are big consumers. In addition, our wheat today contains 90% more gluten than our grandmothers' did.

This testing seems important for your son, even if only to rule out a VERY COMMON problem, that if addressed properly will save your son years of traumatic shots:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2002/0...

Another possible line of research is the emotional mind-body connection. Conventional medicine also doesn't really study this. Emotions have a powerful affect on the immune system and hormone funciton. Dr. Mercola mentions this connection in this article:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2002/11/
30/growth-hormone-part-two.aspx

Yoga is very helpful in balancing hormones and the entire endocrine system. Other energy healing techniques such as tai chi would also be worth exploring, if your son is open to any of this. Ultimately, he needs to decide he wants to heal and be willing to make it happen.
A very athletic form of healing yoga can be found at www.bikramyogarichardson.com and www.sunstoneyoga.com.
If you are in Fort Worth, try www.hotyogafortworth.com. He is old enough.

Another option (only if you are really really openminded) is to consult a medical intuitive (someone who "reads" the energy system of the body) and ask what the problem is. This is particular helpful for emotional blockage issues. For a local practitioner, you might try www.soulhealer.com

You may not have much to lose by trying other options.
Just think, if you can identify and fix the underlying reason WHY your son is not producing adequate growth hormone, imagine the improvement to his physical and emotional health long term!!

Best of luck to you.

My 12 year old son has been on a growth hormone called Genotropin for 2 1/2 years now, and what a difference it has made in his height. I also take my son to Cook Childrens to see the Endocronologist Dr Wilcutts. When my son first started with the injections he was very upset about having to get a shot every night. A nurse came to the house and showed him hot to give himself the injections and change out the cartridge of medicine, and he has always given himself the shot, which he has to take 7 days a week at bedtime. He has went from being in the 3rd percentile in height to the 50th percentile in height. So as of now he is average height for his age, and the kids at school have stopped teasing him for being so short. My son has a tumor on his pituitary gland on his brain and will have to take the medication until he is approximately 18. We have had no bad side effects, and are very pleased with the difference this medicine has made for him. I wish you and your son all the best, and am here for you if you need to talk.

I don't have much advice except that I have family members of small stature and that many people where I am from are just genetically "small". Many of the guys I went to school with were my height (5'2'), and nobody ever saw anything wrong with that. One of my best friends was/is a small guy, about 5'2, not much more than 100 lbs... I always thought he should be a race jockey, but he became a firefighter. Hormones are risky business; a doc even suggested them for my daughter who is very small but finally growing (age 8). I never even gave it a thought. If you choose hormones, make sure it is worth it... remember that he can have a growth spurt throughout his teenage years... and if he is small, so what. I think it will be okay. Good luck.

Hello! My oldest son is on growth hormone therapy. He has been on it for 3 years now. We have seen wonderful growth! When he was 3 years old, he was the same size as our 1 year old. People thought I had twins!! His test result came out borderline but fortunately for us the endocrinologist agreed he need growth hormone therapy. In the first year, he grew 12 inches! I am 5 ft 3 in and he is now 6 years old and measures up to my upper chest. He is finally on the growth chart. He went from -80% to now 10%. The growth hormone therapy involves giving an injection 6 days of the week. You alternate injection sites: R & L arms, R & L legs, R & L butt and R & L abdomen. We quit doing the abdomen since he bruised so easily there. He usually does not flinch or anything when we give him the injections. He is great about it. HOwever, make sure you have great insurance. We pay a $75 copay for about a 2 month's supply. Otherwise it will cost you $12,000 a year. Your son being 9 years old has about 7 to 8 more years of growth. So I think you should do it. You do have to keep the injections refrigerated. The first shot is difficult but you get comfortable with it. I suggest to make the night off on Saturdays because if you go out of town, you can give himthe shot on Friday before you leave then do not have to worry about refrigerating while out on the road. The only negatives you may encounter is pain due to growth. Give him some tylenol and let him rest if he hurts. That is normal. Some kids develop headaches. Mine has not had those symptoms, except I give pain med when he has unexplained pain. We go to Dr. Grace Tannin at Children's Medical Center. We have used 2 different hormones: Genotropin and Humatrope. Both do the same thing but we preferred the Genotropin because we liked the injection pen. The needle is concealed and is covered by a spring cover that retracts when it hits the skin. The kid never sees the needle as well as you when the injection occurs. The humatrope pen does not have that. So you see the needle and see it entering the skin, etc. I hope this helps. Please feel free to write me back if you have any questions. Good luck!!

I am not sure of the risks involved with taking growth hormone if his lab tests do not indicate he needs it. Hopefully you have been advised of all the benefits, as well as the risks. You said your son is adopted so we really do not have an idea of what his expected height would have been. They usually want to know both parents heights, history of other family members with any similar history or height issues.

My son is 8yrs old and has been on growth hormone approximately since he was 18months old because his Pituitary simply is not working, we knew this very early on in the hospital. He takes shots 6 times/wk with one day off that I allow him to chose usually on the weekend. He has never had any bad side effects, he has never complained of headaches, joint or leg aches and pains which is what his Pediatric Endocrinologist inquires about every visit. The shots are fairly easy to administer, with a subcutaneous needle in a pen. For the most part I don't believe the injections hurt, he just does not like getting them. I have tried to involve him in administering the injections himself but is not interested. I would encourage encourage you to research as much as you can to understand what his problem is. Also go prepared to ask questions about implications of his lab findings which I would expect you will be scheduled for discussion of this. The dose is based usually on his weight, response of growth, and is generally done slowly. My child is at the 25th percentile, and for the longest time he was not on the growth chart, but maintained his own curve.

I hope this helps, I can't think of anything bad to say about the use of the drug for our circumstance. The use of growth hormone in your son will have to be individualized based on his needs. Also in case you have not been informed, it is a very expensive drug, that some insurance companys have excluded from its formulary or as in our case a 3month supply costs $400 co pay. If you have any problems with insurance, make appeals, and there are special programs that assist with this ask your doctor for help in sorting this all out.